Is this a poor combination of A levels

The least competitive courses don’t care about A levels and some architecture courses are not competitive and the employment levels are not great either. Just getting in is just the first rung on the ladder. Schools rarely know what happens to dc after they go to university. Architects are over supplied by universities. Employers can be picky.

My DD has advised on careers at her old school. She knows what it takes to do what she does. Teachers, quite simply, don’t. They have no experience in it and reading minimum entry requirements is never the same as what actually happens in real life when the competition for jobs is fierce.

Why would she want to be an accountant? She should aim for a job where her talents lie.

Many architecture degrees do require maths A level so I guess that’s why dc take it!

A drama teacher is a fine job. My best friend was one, and went on to a masters in her 30s and now teaches at a uni on a great salary. Why would someone with a passion for drama and teaching want to become an accountant? Weird.

@Ericaequites no one needs to spend years studying accountancy in order to be an accountant. You can enter accountancy with any degree, or without a degree as long as you have decent A Levels (subjects don’t matter). I did a History degree which I really enjoyed but a good Film Studies degree would do fine. The best graduate I ever worked with (in a top 4 accountancy firm) had a Sport Science degree from a ‘new’ university.

That combination of subjects is not going to be a problem for English Literature or Drama courses at almost any university in the country. There’s a lot of nonsense out there about universities being really picky about subject choice but that just isn’t what I see from the offers students get. Everything else bring equal does history look more impressive than Film Studies? Yes. Will a C in history beat an A in Film Studies? No.
Students do best when they are in the right courses. Ones they like and are good at.

As a head of Sixth Form I could cry at the number of times I see artsy kids take a Maths A Level that they have no interest in and have just scraped the entry criteria for because they think they need it for architecture. Some of them swap after a few weeks but occasionally they plough on and come out with grade profiles like A A E or ABU and end up with no architecture offers. We’ve had kids get into architecture with Art, Photography and BTEC Graphics A A D or Art, Graphics and History A D* A. No good ever comes from kids studying subjects they aren’t interested in. She should do what she thinks she will get the best grades in and enjoy, she has to live with the choice for two years.

Film Studies and Media/Communication Studies are not useful subjects or degrees. The mass media are a batch of liars and deep state dopes pushing liberal ideologies on young people with skulls full of mush.

Moreover, succeeding in either field is unlikely. Better she study something that pays. Has she considered Accountancy?

Film Studies is a valid discipline that exists for decades; there are degrees in Film Studies in many universities, including at top ten universities in the UK - i.e. Warwick.

Media and Communications studies is another example. There is a Media and Communications department at London School of Economics.

It is not only snobbery to fob off media and film studies, it is tory twattery.

It's not. I don't think that's right, but it is a fact that people will treat it differently to e.g. French or Maths

Yes, if you want to do French or Maths at uni!

She hasn't limited herself AT ALL with those A levels, unless she wants to do medicine or something in STEM!

How on earth would those A levels limit her? If she got 3 x.As she could get into any RG uni to read English Lit for a start! Not that she wants to do that.

Certainly Film Studies is not universally well regarded

Mumsnet makes me really cross sometimes.

And fgs, 2004 was 16 years ago. It's totally unnecessary to do 4 A levels now, they are more difficult anyway!

People have always misunderstood what “facilitating” subjects actually meant! To be clear: it was a group of subjects that kept more options open for a broader range of subjects at university. There is no problem with studying subjects that are “narrower”. Art, music, drama, all fit into this but all are offered at RG universities where there is no need for a facilitating subject. The universities would want Art, music and drama A level first and foremost! It also very much depends on university and course.

The main subject for the ops DD is Drama. She wants to teach it eventually. Film studies is good enough for this ambition. If her ideas change, then she’s limited herself a bit but English, Film Studies, American Studies, Sociology, and lots more courses are still available. Just not History, Geography, Sciences or MFL!

Absolutely fine combination for her chosen possible career.

MN is so snobby and assumes everyone is heading for Oxbridge, Durham or Bristol!

DS had three 'arts' A levels, no facilitating subjects, and got straight offers from all the top 20 Russell Group unis he applied for!

Would politics be an alternative though perhaps? A lot of theatre/drama has political overtones.

My view is these A-levels are fine for someone who genuinely wants to pursue drama or literature.

Certainly Film Studies is not universally well regarded. If they would consider something other than Film Studies, that was more versatile, I would think that would be better.

But I would never encourage a young person to do something they don't want to do over something they really feel motivated to do.

I agree look at entry requirements for degrees. This really impacted one of my children's decisions - and it felt better than me just giving my own opinion. That's just more info helping them reach their own decision.

Interesting that 4 Alevels is not an option. Back in 2004 when dd chose she was forced to do 4, but allowed to drop one ( she dropped English as to her surprise she was enjoying history more) which was great as even as a fairly academic kid( 10 As at gcse) she was finding it way too much. I hope they've stopped pushing the 4 Alevels idea, esp as she found all her unis were only going to judge her on her 3 highest A level scores, the 4th being pretty much redundant.

Yes apparently a large proportion of lawyers studied Drama A level

I think that sounds fine. I know someone who did very similar A-levels who's now a solicitor.

I'd just have a double check of the college results for those subjects and if they are good then encourage her to do what she enjoys. You can read Film at some extremely good Russell Group universities, it's not an absolute doss.

My dd was very good at history and reluctantly chose it for A level along with RE ( whatever they call it now) and film studies and found the A level far more enjoyable than gcse and did very well, worth bearing in mind?

English lit, drama and film are completely 100% fine.

Do film studies as a fourth A level.
Add history as the third.

When DS1’s maths grade wasn’t high enough for Psychology he did Sociology as his essay subject. Might that be an option?